Thursday, November 06, 2008
Belgian Neo-Nazi Senator Resigns Over Video
Foreign Confidential....
An ultra-right-wing (neo-Nazi) senator in Belgium has stepped down as his party's leader after a video of him singing a song making fun of the Holocaust was broadcast on RTF television's midday news program.
The Senate called the actions by National Front senator Michel Delacroix "beyond the pale," and began an investigation. The video showed him singing an insulting song about a Jewish girl perishing at the Dachau concentration camp.
In the video aired on the national public TV station, Delacroix was seen singing a song to the tune of "l'eau vive" by Jewish singer Guy Beart, but with the lyrics changed to tell the story of a Jewish girl sent to die in the gas chambers in Dachau.
The blind, neo-Nazi politician was sitting on a sunny terrace--believed to be at a restaurant in Spain while on holiday--with a few friends as he sang.
Swift Reaction
The broadcast brought a swift reaction from the main Belgian organisation policing the fight against discrimination, which accused him of "Holocaust denial" and "inciting racial hatred."
Contacted by AFP, Delacroix said: "I can't remember having sung it, even if I have known the words for years."
The Brussels prosecutor's office also opened an investigation and will consider whether or not to remove Delacroix's parliamentary immunity. Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Belgium and anti-racism infractions could lead to hefty fines and even prison terms.
Delacroix is the only representative of the far-right National Front Party in the 71-seat Senate.
Click here for a Euronews video report.
Obama's First Hire Seen as Signal to Israel
Dateline USA....
Fox News speculates that the President-elect is sending a positive signal to Israel and its supporters in the United States.Barack Obama, by tapping a prominent Jewish congressman to be his chief of staff, earned renewed support from the Jewish community here and abroad.
His choice, Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, has already accepted the job, according to Democratic officials, though Emanuel would say publicly only that he's still considering his future. Obama's offer could be an early signal to the Middle East that the new president intends to follow through on his promises to uphold the U.S.-Israeli alliance in his administration.
"It's just another indication that despite the attempts to imply that Obama would somehow appoint the wrong person or listen to the wrong people when it comes to the U.S.-Israel relationship ... that was never true," said Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council.
Forman said Obama's selection of Emanuel helps build confidence that the United States will be vigilant in responding to any threats to Israel posed by Iran.
"Rahm has certainly never been accused of being too naive or not decisive in his analysis of these types of issues," Forman said.
Here and around the world, the selection brought swift reaction. The Web site for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Wednesday was filled with articles on what an Obama presidency would mean for Israel. The top story, on Emanuel, noted his deep Jewish roots.
Emanuel is the son of a Jerusalem-born doctor who worked for the Israeli underground [the Irgun Zvai Leumi, which gave birth to Menahem Begin's right-of-center Herut party] before the nation's creation following World War II. The congressman belongs to an orthodox congregation in Chicago and worked as a volunteer in Israel during the first Gulf War. He had dual citizenship in the United States and Israel, but gave it up when he was 18.
"Of course he will influence the president to be pro-Israeli," his father Benjamin told an Israeli newspaper Thursday.
An anti-Israel website was quick to react to the news. Click here.Iran Issues Warning to US Military
Foreign Confidential....
The Iranian military Wednesday issued a stark warning to U.S. forces in Iraq, saying it would respond "forcefully" to any violation of Iranian airspace.
The U.S. military said it has ramped up its efforts along the eastern Iraq border in an effort to stem the tide of foreign fighters entering the country from Iran. From their side, Iranian officials have complained of American helicopters approaching Iranian territory.
"Recently it has been seen that American army helicopters were flying a short distance from Iranian border areas, and it is likely to violate Iranian airspace," the military said in a statement published by the Islamic Republic News Agency.
"Iran's armed forces will forcefully respond to any attempts to violate the Islamic Republic of Iran's airspace," it added.
The statements follow a U.S. raid into Syria in October in pursuit of al-Qaida operatives along the border with Iraq. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the incursion a "barbaric act," as Syrian authorities claimed several civilians were killed in the operation.
The Iranian army statement said any similar action on its territory would be met with a swift response.
"Iran's armed forces will respond to any violation," the statement said. It also called on American forces to "change the route of the helicopter flights" to fly at a "safe distance from Iranian borders to avoid any trouble."
-UPIOpinion: the Republican Party is History
Dateline USA....
By Andre Pachter
Copyright 2008
The Republican Party is history--a national political party in name only.
In addition to losing the White House, Republicans lost their second Congressional election in a row.
Two straight losses....
Result: not one Republican representing all of New England in the House of Representatives.
Not one New Englander....
The party of Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Rockefeller, Jacob Javits, and Henry Kissinger--it suddenly seems hopelessly regional, exclusively white, and increasingly irrelevant.
The brand itself is toxic. In the eyes of the youth, and people across the world, Republican stands for stupidity and incompetence.
A party that is against science and progress.
A party of ignorance and religious extremism.
An anti-intellectual party, in which feelings matter more than facts.
A party that hates big cities and despises art and culture.
A primitive party.
A holy-roller, hillbilly party.
Like it or not, that is its image.
Bill Buckley and Barry Goldwater must be rolling in their graves.
What will come of this Republican party?
It will probably spit into two or more parties, as the rightwing-religious faction refuses to recognize how deeply out of touch it is with the overwhelming majority of voters. Like old Marxists, the rightists will withdraw into an ever-shrinking base--an ideologically pure comfort zone of zealots and religious kooks who care more about issues like abortion and gay marriage than the economy and national security (as shown by their insane, suicidal opposition to VP short-list candidates Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge).
The US could be on the brink of a new three- or even four-party era, with the Democrats dominating national politics for decades to come.Italian Prime Minister Puts Foot in Mouth
Foreign Confidential....
Meeting with Russia's president, Silvio Berlosconi today complimented Barack Obama's good looks and "tan."
Mike Eckel reports from Moscow:Italy's famously impolitic Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi described U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday as "young, handsome and even tanned."
Berlusconi appeared to be joking about America's first black president at a news conference following talks with Russia's president.
The Italian leader, who has a history of controversial remarks, was asked by a reporter about the prospect for U.S.-Russian relations, which have plummeted to Cold War-levels in recent months.
Berlusconi responded by saying that the relative youth of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 43, and Obama, 47, should make it easier for Moscow and Washington to work together.
Then he said, smiling: "I told the president that (Obama) has everything needed in order to reach deals with him: he's young, handsome and even tanned."
Medvedev did not visibly react to the comment.
Italian news agencies said Berlusconi later defended the remark to reporters as he returned to his hotel in Moscow, calling the statement "a great compliment"Asian Markets Fall as Election Euphoria Fades
Gadhafi Advancing on Home and Foreign Fronts
Foreign Confidential....
Libya's leader is on the move--at home and abroad.
AP:Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says there's strong competition among Western and ex-Soviet nations to sell arms to Libya and that will allow his nation to get a good deal.
Gadhafi says Libya will try to get the most modern weapons for the best possible price.
Gadhafi spoke Thursday at a news conference in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev as he wrapped up his weeklong tour to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Russia supplied arms worth billions of dollars to Libya during Soviet times and has moved recently to rebuild ties that withered after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Russia faces competition from Western countries eager to sell arms to Libya after Gadhafi renounced terrorism and gave up efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
The Media Line News Agency: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during Gadhafi's first visit to Russia since 1985 over the weekend.
Tripoli announced that it had signed a deal with Moscow to cooperate on nuclear civilian projects, but Russia has not confirmed the nuclear accord.
Talks reportedly focused on oil, gas and arms purchases.
Libyan Foreign Minister 'Abd A-Rahman Shalqam said the agreement included cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear uses, including designing and building reactors, creating nuclear fuel and cooperation in nuclear medical uses and treatment of nuclear waste.
Libya is keen to expand its political and defense ties with Russia into trade and commerce, and wants to update military equipment purchased from Russia during the era of the Soviet Union.
Russian news reports said the leaders were also discussing building a Russian naval base in the Mediterranean port of Benghazi.
The talks come as Libya is reestablishing ties with Western powers in an effort to come in from the diplomatic cold.
Libya is paying $1.5 billion in compensation to American victims of Libyan-linked terror attacks in the 1980s. The payment removes one of the major hurdles to normalizing relations between Tripoli and Washington.
Last month US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a historic visit to Tripoli, the highest-ranking US official to visit Libya in more than 50 years.
In 2003 Gadhafi announced his country was abandoning its Weapons of Mass Destruction program, a move that began Libya's rapprochement with the West.
Reuters correspondent Tom Pfeiffer reports from Tripoli on the domestic on the country's economic liberalization:Four years after the United States lifted sanctions on Libya, advocates of a free market are locked in a struggle with powerful state apparatchiks to decide the country's future.
Leader Muammar Gaddafi has said the oil-rich north African OPEC member has no choice but to adapt to the global economy to preserve the benefits of the "Islamic Socialism" system he introduced after seizing power in 1969.
Restrictions on private capital have been eased and Libyans in cushy government jobs are being encouraged to retrain and set up businesses with the help of cheap state loans.
But local analysts say parts of the revolutionary, military and tribal elite, some of whom benefit from state monopolies, are resisting changes in education, health and utilities.
"There are still diehard socialists within the system and others with simple vested interests," said Sami Zaptia of Know Libya, a Tripoli-based business services firm.
"We may have to wait a generation before we can steam ahead with real economic reform," he added.
A visit to the Mediterranean capital Tripoli suggests some change is afoot.
The skyline is changing as new hotels spring up to cater for an influx of foreign businessmen drawn by the promise of lucrative contracts to upgrade ageing infrastructure.
The government says it aims to recruit 1 million foreign workers, including Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans, in the next five years to build homes, universities and roads.
Continue here.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
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